fifth Business
... Paul, though the material he used to do this with was highly unheard of, in order to help reduce some of the guilt Dunstan still had with Pauls birth. This new interest of magic and saints is what later led Paul to chose the path he did when he ran away from home. Dunstan greatly altered Paul’s life without it ever serving more than the purpose of just moving his life along. A lot of the events that changed Paul’s life also effected that of Mary Dempster. The same "snowball" that caused the premature birth of Paul also greatly altered the life of Mary. Mary suffered mentally and was said to have gone "simple"(24) after Pauls shockingly sudden birth. Dunstan's daily visits to Mary Dempster seemed to help Reverend Amasa Dempster cope with his wife's illness. If it wasn't for work that Dunny did for Mary then the Reverend would not have been so ignorant of his wife's condition for such a long time. Ramsay had a large effect on Mary's life without his presence ever being that of a main character. Unlike the alterations Dunny caused on the lives of Mary and Paul Dempster, those of Boy Staunton were a lot more subtle. Dunny and Boy always had a rivalry between them that was occasionally unintentional. Dunny and Boy spent years of their life competing for Leola Cruikshank. If this rivalry had not been there, it is possible that Boy would not have been as attracted to Leola and therefore would not have the incentive to marry her. This same rivalry caused the two to argue the night that the snowball was thrown. This is the first time that Boy has used the method of denial to deal with a problem. Boy, after noticing how well he coped with this situation, used this method to deal with almost all his problems later in life. Dunstan played neither the role of the Confidante, nor the villain in Boy's life, yet Dunstan was responsible a lot of the paths Boy chose in his life. Dunstan Ramsay was responsible for a lot of the events in the lives of Paul and Mary Dempster, and Boy Staunton. It seems nearly impossible for Dunny to do so much, and yet so little in these highly altered lives. The fact is, Dunny Ramsay is the "fifth busin...